Liberator B-24 bombers of the Allied 15th Air Force in action to shoot an oil refinery among the shots of the air defense. Ploiesti, August 1944

1943

Operation Tidal Wave: U.S. forces attempt risky air raid on Axis oil refineries

Born on This Day

Yves Saint Laurent

Yves Saint Laurent

1936 - 2008

French fashion designer who popularized ready-to-wear clothing. Iconic designs include the tuxedo suit.

Lawrence Lacks and Ron Lacks, the son and grandson of Henrietta Lacks, have launched a campaign against the book and movie, starring Oprah, about Henrietta Lacks, claiming inaccuracies

Henrietta Lacks

1920 - 1951

African American woman whose HeLa cancer cell lines formed the basis of numerous scientific research breakthroughs.

Coolio

Coolio

1963 - 2022

Rapper who helped popularize the genre to a mainstream audience with hits "Gangsta's Paradise" and "Fantastic Voyage."

1834

AUG

1

Great Britain’s Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 goes into effect in most British colonies. The act makes Canada a safe haven for fugitive enslaved people from the US, where slavery remains in effect.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on August 1st

1498

Columbus first sets eyes on South America, thinks it’s an island

Explorer Christopher Columbus sights the coast of present-day Venezuela. Thinking it an island, he christened it Isla Santa and claimed it for Spain. His men go ashore at what is now the Paria Peninsula a few days later. Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451. Little is known of his early life, but he […]

1914

First World War begins to escalate

On August 1, 1914, four days after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Germany declares war on Russia and France orders a general mobilization. The following day, the first German army units cross into Luxembourg in preparation for an invasion of France. Over the next three days, Russia, France, Belgium and Great Britain all lined up […]

1936

Hitler oversees Berlin Olympics opening ceremony

As more than 5,000 athletes from 51 countries march into a stadium packed with 100,000 onlookers, Adolf Hitler makes his only public statement of the Berlin Olympics at its opening ceremony on this day in 1936: “I proclaim the Games of Berlin, celebrating the eleventh Olympiad of the modern era, to be open.” Before his […]

1943

The Harlem Riot of 1943 begins

Simmering racial tensions and economic frustrations boil over in New York City on the night of August 1, 1943, culminating in what is now known as the Harlem Riot of 1943. During an altercation in the lobby of the Braddock Hotel, a white police officer shoots a Black soldier, Robert Bandy, triggering a massive uprising. […]

1944

Anne Frank writes her last diary entry

Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl hiding out in Nazi-occupied Holland whose diary came to serve as a symbol of the Holocaust, writes her final entry three days before she and her family are arrested and placed in concentration camps. Frank, 15 at the time, received the diary on her 13th birthday, writing in it […]

1944

Warsaw Uprising begins

During World War II, an advance Soviet armored column under General Konstantin Rokossovski reaches the Vistula River along the eastern suburb of Warsaw, prompting Poles in the city to launch a major uprising against the Nazi occupation. The revolt was spearheaded by Polish General Tadeusz Bor-Komorowski, who was the commander of the Home Army, an […]

1961

The first Six Flags opens in Texas

On August 1, 1961, amusement park lovers “head for the thrills” as Six Flags Over Texas, the first park in the Six Flags chain, has its soft opening. Five days later, on August 5, the park had its grand opening. Located on 212 acres in Arlington, Texas, the park was the first to feature log […]

1966

An ex-Marine goes on a killing spree at the University of Texas

Charles Whitman takes a stockpile of guns and ammunition to the observatory platform atop a 300-foot tower at the University of Texas and proceeds to shoot 46 people, killing 14 people and wounding 32. Whitman, who had killed both his wife and mother the night before, was eventually shot to death after courageous Austin police […]

1975

Helsinki Final Act signed

The United States, the Soviet Union, Canada and every European nation (except Albania) sign the Helsinki Final Act on the last day of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). The act was intended to revive the sagging spirit of detente between the Soviet Union and the United States and its allies. During […]

1981

MTV launches

On August 1, 1981, MTV: Music Television goes on the air for the first time ever, with the words (spoken by one of MTV’s creators, John Lack): “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll.” The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” was the first music video to air on the new cable television channel, which initially […]

1996

Michael Johnson earns third gold medal

On August 1, 1996, sprinter Michael Johnson breaks the world record in the 200 meters to win gold at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Three days earlier, Johnson had also won the 400 meters, making him the first man in history to win both events at the Olympics. Four years earlier at the Barcelona Olympics, […]

1996

George R.R. Martin’s “Game of Thrones” debuts

On August 1, 1996, “A Game of Thrones,” an epic fantasy novel by George R.R. Martin, is released. The book was the first in Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, about feuding medieval noble families on an imaginary continent called Westeros. Although not initially a best-seller, “A Game of Thrones” gained a loyal […]

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